- Joined
- Nov 12, 2012
I did a lot of thinking about this since Helsinki and I know what my problem is with the program. Blues comes out of slave field chants and spirtuals. It's about sex and sin and guilt. Go back and listen to early blues and you'll hear some of the dirtiest double entendres you can imagine. "I need a little sugar in my bowl./I need a little hot dog between my rolls." And what I'm NOT getting from this program is that raw dirty earthiness that say H/D had in spades. She has definitely found her knees, which is a huge improvement. Now I want both of them to find that attitude. They have it at the end of the twizzles. I just wish this had more of it all the way through. It's a good program, probably the best FD they've done. But to take it to the next level, they really need to dirty it up and LOOSEN it up. Sex and sin and guilt. This was much better but go for the dirt even more!
Score: 124.94 and an overscored SB. Sorry but that's how I feel. They're being set up for a silver at Worlds.
I think there is a point in that - they do look good in that aesthetic, a loud and more gritty than not version of Beth Hart, but personally I find a lot of gimmick inserted into choreo unnecessary, making the program competing with the music instead of complimenting each other. I get the idea was to play on their strenghts, namely Stepanova's flexibility, long legs, but it just lacks a bit of that more subtle, toned innuendo overall for me. Comparison to Hubbell/Donohue's FD last season is kinda obvious and what differs both programs is attitude of movement/choreo towards music, how the vibe is built through expression - Stepanova/Bukin with more showy, obvious-in-being-sexy, posed image/interpretation and Hubbell /Donohue with more hidden seduction and sensuality, taken rather from little gestures and touches, building more deliberately and culminating with finale. Both approaches work for both teams I'd say, it us just my personal taste to see more detail, capturing the mood of the music more naturally (like this stop and flip after twizzles), a bit more prolonging the moment/holding a look and connect with each other deeper than just by partnering in choreography.